Inter beat Lecce in their final home game of the year
Team
— Dec 23rd 2023Goals from Bisseck and Barella secure a vital three points at San Siro as the Nerazzurri maintain their four-point lead at the top
Inter scored in each half to beat Lecce 2-0 at San Siro and maintain their four-point lead over Juventus, who had defeated Frosinone earlier on in the afternoon. Yann-Aurel Bisseck’s first Nerazzurri goal and Niccolò Barella’s finish from a wonderful Marko Arnautovic assist secured three vital points for Inzaghi’s men in their final home fixture of 2023.
In front of over 72,000 fans at San Siro, Inter put some fantastic moves together and created numerous opportunities before finally opening the scoring from a dead ball situation: Calhanoglu sent in a free-kick and Bisseck, who had hit the bar shortly before, beat Falcone with a header to make it 1-0.
Lecce were a threat, and it certainly wasn’t a quiet evening for Sommer. As a result, the tension remained high for long periods. But just when Lecce were really pushing to find an equaliser, Arnautovic produced a magnificent back-heel flick to send Barella through on goal, and the Italian did the rest to kill off the game in the 78th minute.
Inzaghi’s men now sit on 44 points in the league, four ahead of second-place Juventus. Next up for Inter is a trip to the Ferraris to face Genoa on Friday 29 December.
INTER 2-0 LECCE
Goalscorer: 42' Bisseck (I), 78' Barella (I)
INTER (3-5-2): 1 Sommer; 31 Bisseck, 15 Acerbi, 95 Bastoni; 36 Darmian, 23 Barella (16 Frattesi 89'), 20 Calhanoglu (21 Asllani 75'), 22 Mkhitaryan (14 Klaassen 89'), 30 Carlos Augusto (28 Pavard 84'); 9 Thuram (70 Sanchez 84'), 8 Arnautovic. Substitutes: 12 Di Gennaro, 77 Audero, 5 Sensi, 6 De Vrij, 42 Agoume, 43 Motta, 44 Stabile, 49 Sarr. Head Coach: Simone Inzaghi.
LECCE (4-3-3): 30 Falcone; 17 Gendrey (12 Venuti 87'), 6 Baschirotto, 5 Pongracic, 25 Gallo; 10 Oudin (11 Sansone 87'), 20 Ramadani, 16 Gonzalez (77 Kaba 46'); 27 Strefezza (8 Rafia 64'), 91 Piccoli (9 Krstovic 73'), 22 Banda. Substitutes: 21 Brancolini, 40 Samooja, 13 Dorgu, 18 Berisha, 19 Listkowski, 23 Faticanti, 26 Smajlovic, 29 Blin, 59 Touba. Head Coach: Andrea Tarozzi (stepping in for Roberto D'Aversa).
Booked: Gonzalez (L), Calhanoglu (I), Piccoli (L), Pongracic (L) Sent off: Banda (L) for dissent (83') Added time: 2' - 4'
Referee: Marcenaro. Assistants: C. Rossi, Cipriani. Fourth official: Tremolada. VAR: Maggioni. VAR assistant: Valeri.